China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) on Friday said that the Chinese government is poised to carry out a series of previously promised incentive programs for Taiwanese businesses operating in China.
He said that he had earlier assured representatives of Taiwanese businesses that the Chinese government would not backtrack on the promises Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) affirmed during a meeting in Fujian Province on Wednesday.
Zhang made the pledge to former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who is in Nanjing in his capacity as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman, leading a delegation of KMT officials for a series of events marking the 10th anniversary of a meeting between then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and former Chinese president and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Zhang said that at the meeting in Fujian, Li heard a myriad of concerns faced by Taiwanese businesspeople, including their misgivings over incentive programs, intellectual property protection and access to financing, and pledged that China would honor its previous commitments on those issues.
Meanwhile, the events commemorating the groundbreaking meeting between Lien and Hu are setting the stage for a meeting between Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) and New Taipei City Mayor and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on May 4.
Zhang said it was more important than ever to review the progress made over the past decade and bolster future cross-strait ties.
Hau said it took great fortitude for leaders of both parties to step forward 10 years ago to begin the journey toward establishing peace between Taiwan and China, and progress in the endeavor had accelerated markedly since 2008.
The most tangible reflections of such efforts are the economic boost brought by the influx of Chinese visitors to Taipei and the many instances where a cross-strait agreement to fight crime and provide mutual legal assistance had borne fruit, Hau said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai